The present invention relates to an air conditioning register, for example, for a vehicle.
An automobile such as a passenger vehicle may have a display device installed in a center cluster of the instrument panel. The display device displays instructions and conditions of a device such as a navigation system. In order to improve visibility of various types of displayed information and facilitate user operation, the size of the display device has been enlarged. However, a larger display device reduces the space for installing an air conditioning register, which is arranged at each lateral side of the display device. In this case, the air conditioning register may be arranged in an upper portion of the center cluster. To enable such arrangement, a low-profile and laterally elongated register for an air conditioner, which can be installed in a limited space, has been proposed.
As shown in FIG. 19, the “low-profile air conditioning register” described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-149830 has a downstream-side fin set arranged in a retainer 30. A laterally elongated rectangular opening 35 is formed at the downstream end of the retainer 30. An end fin 31 and an end fin 32 of the downstream fin set are arranged in the vicinity of an upper wall portion 33 and the vicinity of a lower wall portion 34 of the retainer 30, respectively. The end fin 31 has a body portion 37 and a bent portion 39 and the end fin 32 includes a body portion 38 and a bent portion 40. The body portions 37, 38 are supported by left and right wall portions 43 each through a support shaft 36. The bent portions 39, 40 are arranged upstream from the associated body portions 37, 38 and each extend in a bent shape from an end of the body portion 37, 38. A permitting portion 44 and a permitting portion 45 are formed in the vicinity of the upper wall portion 33 and the vicinity of the lower wall portion 34, respectively. When the body portions 37, 38 incline, the corresponding permitting portions 44, 45 permit movement of the upstream ends of the bent portions 39, 40 to an upstream side of an airflow direction or in the opposite direction, with the upstream ends of the bent portions 39, 40 maintained close to the wall portions 33, 34.
The “air outlet adjustment register” disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-18634 includes a downstream-side louver and an upstream-side louver arranged in an air passage. A manipulation knob is slidably attached to a lateral fin of the downstream-side louver. By manipulating the manipulation knob, a vertical fin of the upstream-side louver is rotated to adjust the outlet direction of the air. An elongated hole through which the manipulation knob extends is formed in the lateral fin. The manipulation knob is passed through the elongated hole of the lateral fin in a manner slidable along the longitudinal direction of the lateral fin. This configuration provides a desirable outer appearance of the manipulation knob, which is inserted through the lateral fin.
As shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B, in the low-profile air conditioning register described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-149830, the upstream ends of the bent portions 39, 40 are moved to the upstream side of the airflow direction or in the opposite direction while maintained close to the corresponding wall portions 33, 34. Accordingly, recesses 42, 42 are formed between the upstream ends of the bent portions 39, 40 and the corresponding wall portions 33, 34. However, the recesses 42, 42 may cause turbulence, which not only produces great noise but also destabilizes the direction of the air blown out of the opening 35, thus hampering the airflow direction adjustment function of the fin 41. Also, the register of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-149830 needs a mechanism for bending the bent portions 39, 40 and guiding the upstream ends of the bent portions 39, 40. This complicates the configurations of end fins 31, 32 and the configurations of the components in the vicinities of the end fins 31, 32, thus raising the manufacturing costs.
The low-profile air outlet adjustment register proposed by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-18634 has a lateral fin with improved outer appearance and simple structure. However, the register needs a component for holding the manipulation knob in a manner slidable in the elongated hole, which complicates the assembly of the components.